Close To Bears` Heart

Fuller Among Best Back-up Quarterbacks

This would be a good year for the National Football League to institute

``The Earl Morrall Award`` for the back-up quarterback of the season.

The Bears` Steve Fuller would be a contender. New England`s Steve Grogan would be the frontrunner.

Almost every team already has a candidate.

Back-up quarterbacks are less than a heartbeat away. Vice presidents would like to be so important.

Of the 28 quarterbacks who opened the season, only Tampa Bay`s Steve DeBerg, Denver`s John Elway, the New York Jets` Ken O`Brien, the New York Giants` Phil Simms, Miami`s Dan Marino, Minnesota`s Tommy Kramer, St. Louis`

Neil Lomax, Seattle`s Dave Krieg and Detroit`s Eric Hipple have started every game and survived virtually intact. All the rest have been knocked out by injury at one time or another except Buffalo`s Vince Ferragamo and

Cincinnati`s Ken Anderson, who were benched healthy.

Philadelphia`s Ron Jaworski started the season, was benched healthy, came back and is questionable for Sunday with a bruised shoulder. Until he suffered a broken leg late last season, Jaworski had started 116 games in a row, believed to be a record for quarterbacks.

Lomax has started 38 in a row to hold the current streak.

DeBerg and Simms are the only two who have taken every snap. DeBerg lost his job this week to Steve Young.

Morrall was Player of the Year in 1968 when he subbed for Johnny Unitas and took the Baltimore Colts to Super Bowl III. In 1972, Morrall played quarterback for 10 weeks in place of injured Bob Griese during the Miami Dolphins` perfect season.

At 11-0, the Bears are chasing Miami`s 14-0 record at the moment with a back-up quarterback.

``If you look at the last few years, you have to figure the back-up quarterback is going to play. If anyone takes every snap, it`s highly unusual,`` said Fuller, who will lead the Bears for the third week in a row Sunday in Soldier Field against the Atlanta Falcons.

The Falcons started their season with Steve Bartkowski. When he strained one of his fragile knees in the fourth week, the Falcons turned their season and their future over to second-year man David Archer.

Bartkowski wants to play again, but by mutual agreement, it won`t be with the Falcons. They have too many injuries in their offensive line and Bartkowski is too immobile to avoid the rush. The Falcons have agreed to release him if a contender with good pass protection calls.

The injuries to Bears` starter Jim McMahon are not unusual. Defenses are blitzing quarterbacks onto injury lists everywhere. The sickening sight of Joe Theismann`s broken leg last Monday night in Washington was a grim reminder of the position`s vulnerability.

Instead of sitting back and accepting rules changes that made offense easier, defenses are striking back. They are gambling that their blitzes will get to the quarterback before the quarterback can find his receiver.

When the defense wins the gamble, the offense can only hope the back-up quarterback has better luck than Gary Hogeboom had with the Cowboys last week. The Bears knocked out Danny White twice and intercepted Hogeboom`s second and third passes to set up touchdowns in the 44-0 rout.

Fuller got sacked four times himself, but survived with only one interception. It bounced off receiver Willie Gault`s chest. For the second year in a row, Fuller was the quarterback when the Bears clinched an NFC Central Division title.

``Might be a good trivia question in about 15 years,`` Fuller said.

For all their worth, most back-up quarterbacks get all the respect afforded substitute teachers.

Fans with short memories think the Bears can find someone better than Fuller, as if good quarterbacks visited Chicago more than once every 20 years. ``They never have a chance to see the second quarterback much. They really don`t know what he can do,`` Ditka said. ``As a result, they feel when you put the second quarterback in, you`re really dealing at a tremendous disadvantage. I don`t see it that way, because if you keep 45 men and you don`t really believe they can line up and play for you, then you`ve made a mistake.``

Offensive coordinator Ed Hughes calls the Bears` trio of McMahon, Fuller, and rookie Mike Tomczak the smartest group he ever has been around.

``Put Tomczak out there and I`m not too sure he wouldn`t win for you, too,`` Hughes said.

``It has a lot to do with the rest of the guys. A lot,`` Fuller said.

``I feel bad for Bob Avellini and how everybody said he was lousy for 10 years,`` said safety Gary Fencik. ``It was more than the quarterback situation. We didn`t have the same scheme and we didn`t have a complementing cast.``

Fuller`s strength is in recognizing that the cast can carry him.

``The defense knows with Steve in there, he`s not going to make a lot of mistakes and put us in a hole,`` said defensive tackle Steve McMichael.

``For a quarterback, he has a surprisingly low-key ego,`` Fencik said.

``He`s intelligent and he doesn`t throw interceptions. He`s not risk-oriented.``

Fuller was too conservative in his first start at Minnesota in the third game of the season, when McMahon came off the bench and threw for three touchdowns.

Fuller said it shook his confidence.

``He never lost my confidence,`` Ditka said. ``I never had a question about him.``

``Nobody lost confidence in him,`` said center Jay Hilgenberg. ``It carried over from last year.``

Fuller was amused when Washington back-up Jay Schroeder showed up on a list of top ``prospects`` among quarterbacks the day after he replaced Theismann.

``A week ago, I don`t think he would have been mentioned,`` Fuller said.